


Back In Time

by VJuniorVasquez



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-03
Updated: 2020-04-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:01:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23452141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VJuniorVasquez/pseuds/VJuniorVasquez
Summary: The first time Ash met Gou was on top of a Lugia.However, that wasn't the first time Gou met Ash...
Relationships: Gou/Satoshi | Ash Ketchum
Comments: 5
Kudos: 132





	Back In Time

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Español available: [Viajeros del tiempo](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27687304) by [deathangel91](https://archiveofourown.org/users/deathangel91/pseuds/deathangel91)



> Yes, it's me  
> And yes, you're not seeing double, this is the second of three fics I published today!  
> Enjoy it!

“Get back here!” Ash shouted running behind his target, with his faithful Pikachu sprinting by his side

The other boy seemed to be faster than him, and even the electric Pokemon couldn’t keep the pace with the two humans. Ash focused on the road ahead of him, suddenly, he got an idea. He turned right, losing himself in a group of trees.

The other boy took a look behind him and smirked. Ash was nowhere to be found, so that meant he had lost track of him. Or so he thought, until Ash came out of a group of trees and tackled him to the ground, he tried to move away, but as always, Ash’s firm grip was too much for him. The trainer looked at him from above, smirking

“Gotcha” he said, planting a soft kiss on his lips

As soon as he got away, Gou started to laugh and kissed him back

“You got faster in the last three years” Ash praised

“Well, I’ve got a great personal trainer” Gou replied, the smile never leaving his face. He got up and helped his boyfriend to do the same, hugging him in the process. Ash was quite taller than him, and he took advantage of that, hugging him back and putting his chin over Gou’s head, much to his embarrassment

“Let me go, you idiot” Gou demanded

“Are you sure you want that?”

Gou didn’t reply, losing himself in the scent of his boyfriend’s body, his favorite smell in the whole world. Ash took notice of that and moved his hand across his back

“You make me so happy” Gou confessed with a blush

“Since when?” he asked playfully

Gou kissed him again and Ash’s heart leaped when he heard the next sentence:

“Since the moment I met you”

The couple stayed silently in that position, until a shout interrupted them

“Cin! Cin!”

They turned around. Cinderace was looking at them, with Pikachu perched on his shoulder, both of them frowning at the couple. Ash and Gou separated and walked to them

“Right, focus on the research, sorry guys” the trainer from Pallet Town said, entering the deepest part of the forest “What we were doing here again?”

Gou and the two Pokemon deadpanned

“You literally just said you have to focus, but you don’t remember why we’re here?” Gou asked

Ash took his hand and replied, looking at his face

“All I can think about is you right now”

Gou made an effort to ignore that cute comment and explained

“We got reports of a Mythical Pokemon wandering this forest, could be a hoax or simply a lie, but we’re close to the Lab, so we can do a little research”

“Sure, what kind of Pokemon we’re searching for?” Ash asked, looking around

“The reports were inconsistent, so it could be… IT!”

Gou threw himself to the ground, pushing his boyfriend too, Cinderace and Pikachu repeated the action

“Hey, what’s…”

Gou ordered his boyfriend to shut up and pointed to a tree nearby. A little creature was inspecting it, touching the dying branches of the tree and reviving them. The couple stared at Celebi for a few seconds, until it disappeared.

“He got away…” Ash complained

“He can’t be far” Gou replied “Celebi can time travel, but as far as we know, it’s not capable of teleporting across great distances”

They spent the next hours looking for the time travel Pokemon, but it was pointless. They waited under several rotten and dying trees, but Celebi wasn’t interested to show up again.

When the sun was about to set, the couple decided to go back to the Institute, Gou was convinced that they wasted the chance to, at the very least, get a picture of such a mysterious Pokemon. Ash didn’t say anything. Listening attentively to his boyfriend, he started to think that maybe this was his fault, if only he focused on the mission like he promised instead of flirting with his boyfriend…

All those thoughts assaulted him on the way back, and right when they were about to enter the building, the raven haired boy exclaimed

“I’m sorry, Gou”

“About what?”

Ash was about to say something, when he felt a presence right behind him. He turned around quickly, only to see a pair of big, round eyes. He heard a little laugh, and then everything around him was replaced by a bright light.

Gou, Pikachu and Cinderace only saw Ash fading away, with Celebi standing in front of them a few seconds later

“What did you do?” Gou shouted

Celebi laughed

“Bring him back!” the boy demanded

Celebi laughed once more, and then disappeared too. Gou fell to the ground, unable to comprehend what just happened.

The first thing Ash noticed when he opened his eyes, was that he was still outside the Institute, but the place seemed a little different, he wasn’t sure why

The second thing he noticed was that he only had his shorts on. He frantically searched around for the rest of his clothes, until he saw Celebi floating away with them, he tried to chase the creature, but ended up falling, and when he looked up, the Pokemon was gone from sight.

The trainer decided that the best course of action was to ask for the Professor’s help, so he entered the building

He immediately got hit by a broom, and his ears were pierced by the scream of a little girl, he grabbed and tossed the broom away and frowned at Koharu.

A very young version of Koharu

“Who are you?” the little girl asked, observing the intruder with curiosity

“My name’s Ash” the trainer replied “I’m looking for your father”

“What a surprise” she replied, huffing “That’s all what people do these days”

Ash realized that there should be someone with her, a very annoying and cute electric Pokemon was nowhere in sight, so that helped him to understand in which point in time he was. He remembered that Koharu once told him Yamper was a gift for her 8th birthday

“Koharu, I need your help” he said

“How do you know my name?” the girl asked, raising an eyebrow

“I’m from the future, a future where you and I are friends, and I need your father’s help to get back there”

The girl laughed

“That sounds stupid. And impossible, especially the part where you and I are friends”

“Why?”

“I’d never be friends with a weirdo like you”

Ash laughed and Koharu frowned

“What’s so funny?” She asked

“Believe me” Ash replied “You’ll have lots of friends in the future”

Koharu frowned again and Ash understood that maybe reasoning with a stubborn version of the girl wasn’t the best option, so he tried with a different approach

“At least can you tell me where your father is?”

“He’s developing a new type on Smartphone in the city; he’s working with a company called Gou Technologies or something like that”

“Think you can help me get there?”

The girl denied with her head

“Dad said I can’t leave this place”

“Anyway you can help me without leaving this place?”

Koharu nodded

“Wait a minute!”

And ran inside the Institute, leaving a very confused Ash behind. Whatever help Koharu could give him would be pointless if he didn’t know how to get to Gou Technologies. He searched for something in his shorts, yes, it was still there!

He took out his Smartphone and touched the screen, but nothing happened

“Rotom, are you there?”

Ash heard a faint ‘bzzt’ but the device didn’t turned on, when he was about to try again, Koharu returned with a lab coat, a shirt, a hat and a pair of shoes.

“They belong to my father, but they might fit you”

Ash put the clothes on, and though he didn’t feel comfortable in them, he appreciated Koharu’s gesture, he asked her if she could give him any direction on how to get to Gou Technologies, but she denied with her head

“Well, I’ll have to visit someone else then, thanks for your help!” Ash said, opening the doors of the Institute and walking away

“Wait!” Koharu shouted, and Ash turned around “What you said, about me having friends, is that true?”

“Of course it is” Ash said with conviction

“But they’ll be only interested in my father’s work, right?”

“Of course not, all of them will love you and appreciate you for who you are, Koharu”

The girl smiled, but Ash had something else to say

“When is your birthday, Koharu?”

“In three weeks I’ll turn 8”

“Prepare to meet your best friend that day, then”

She arched an eyebrow, confused

“Who will be? What’s his name?”

“I can’t tell you”

“But how do you know that?” Koharu insisted, and Ash smiled once again

“I’m from the future, remember?” the boy replied, turning around and walking away

Ash checked his pockets again and was happily surprised to find some change, enough to get on the bus that would drop him a few meters away from Gou’s house. It was a long shot, but maybe his parents were there, if not, he could ask the little boy how to get to the facilities where his parents worked.

Sitting on the bus, Ash took out his smartphone once again; he touched the screen and heard the faint voice of Rotom:

“Disconnected from system. System unreachable” the little creature said

“What does that mean?” the boy asked “What’s wrong, Rotom?”

“Satellite not found”

“Satellite?”

Ash ponder about the meaning of the sentence for a moment, he had no idea how he could help Rotom, but if being stuck in the phone hurt the creature, then there was only one logical thing to do

“Rotom, get out”

The screen flashed for a moment, and Rotom got out of the phone and floated towards Ash, nodding slightly

“Roto!” he shouted, smiling

“You’re welcome!” Ash replied

A few minutes later, he and Rotom got out of the bus, running straight to the building where Gou (Ash presumed) lived. He rang the doorbell, hoping that an adult would be on the other side of the line.

No one answered, so Ash insisted

Again, nothing, he tried a third time, wondering what would happen if he got stuck in the past…

“Hello?” A low voice asked, almost whispering, and Ash recognized immediately. Still, he had to be as calm and collected as he could, so he asked:

“Is this the house of Kurune and Ikuo?”

“Yes” Gou answered “They are my parents”

“Can I talk to them, please?” Ash said, with a slight tremor in his voice

“They are not here right now” the little boy replied, and before Ash could say something else, the line was cut

Ash stood there, trying to think what he should do next. Gou’s parents obviously were well known around the city, maybe one of their neighbors in the building could help him find the building, or Officer Jenny, or Nurse joy, or…

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the elevator opening. He turned around and saw the little figure of Gou coming out of it. The boy bowed him and inviting him to enter

“Please, come and wait for my parents here” he invited

“I should meet them as soon as possible; they are reunited with a friend of mine”

“You sounded a little desperate when you asked for them, you should calm down and wait for them here” Gou insisted

Ash obeyed and got into the elevator, when they started to move, Gou questioned:

“Why do you need them?”

“I know Professor Sakuragi is reunited with them and I have” Ash doubted for a second “a problem, I think he can help me with it”

Gou denied with his head

“Professor Sakuragi? Who’s that?”

“You know, the head of Sakuragi Institute!”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about…” Gou replied

Ash frowned and the other boy looked at him. Maybe he was suspicious of something, the trainer was sure Gou was smarter than him, and in recent years, he acquired the ability to notice when his boyfriend was lying to him. Maybe he always had that ability, and Ash didn’t know…

Gou was about to ask something else, when the elevator stopped. As soon as the doors opened, Rotom appeared in front of him, smiling

“Is this your Pokemon?” Gou asked, and Ash nodded

“Are you a Pokemon Trainer?” the boy said, and got the same response

“Cool” Gou said, touching the little Pokemon and smiling at it

“Get yourself comfortable” Gou suggested, as soon as Ash entered the department “I’ll call my parents and they’ll come here as soon as they can”

“Thank you, Gou” Ash said, and immediately knew that was a mistake. The boy never said his name…

However, Gou didn’t seem to notice, and left the room to call his parents. Ash stood there, unsure of what to do. Rotom floated around him

“Ro?” the creature asked

“This feels weird” Ash replied “Even weirder than I first thought…”

“Ro-tom?”

“I don’t know why, but I think Celebi sent me to this time for a reason…”

Ash’s musings were interrupted by Gou raising his voice. The trainer knew this wasn’t his business, but still decided to walk towards Gou’s room, eavesdropping a little

“Mom, I’m telling you, it’s not an excuse! There’s a man in here that needs you! Wait, don’t hang up, I’ll get him… Mom? Mom!”

The line went silent and Gou sat in his chair, a sad expression plastered on his face. Ash looked at him for a moment and his heart sunk.

There was Gou, the boy he loved so much, the boy he learned to care for like no one else in the entire world, suffering. The trainer knew these years were especially hard for his boyfriend, so he decided to take action.

“Is everything okay?” he asked, entering the room

Gou quickly wiped the tears from his face and commented

“They didn’t believe there was someone here who needed them, so they won’t come until late tonight. I should give you the address of the building and…”

“Why they didn’t believe you?” Ash interrupted

Gou looked at the teenager in front of him. He had no idea why he invited him to enter the department, why he was so willing to help him, why he could… trust in him so much. But truth be told, he trusted this strange boy, so he confessed:

“Mom and Dad are never around here, so, in the last few months, every once in a while, I make up some stories, some petty excuses, to force them to come back earlier…”

A few tears escaped from the boy’s eyes, and Ash launched at him, hugging him tightly

“W-why are you d-doing t-this?” Gou muttered

“Because you need a hug” Ash quickly replied

“You barely know me”

“I know you better than you think…”

Ash doubted for a second

“… Gou”

Gou was still clinging to Ash’s shoulders when he asked:

“How do you know my name?”

“I’m a Time Traveler” Ash said

Gou let go of him and stared at his face. There was no smile, no frowning, not a single indication that he could be lying

“Still… How do you know my name?” Gou repeated

“You and I are friends in the future”

Gou chuckled, and Ash smiled, knowing that the sound of his laugh would not change in all those years to come

“I don’t have friends”

“You have Koharu” Ash countered

“How do you… Oh, right, Time Traveler”

“You are more open to that idea than she was” Ash commented

“Well, it’s not impossible. Are you some kind of mad scientist?”

Ash denied with his head

“Maybe you’re not human at all, maybe you’re a Zoroark!”

“I’m definitely human, Gou”

“Then… Dialga?” Gou theorized

“Tinier, and not that powerful” Ash commented

“Celebi”

“Exactly”

“Why are you here?”

“That’s the same thing I’m wondering, but I think I’m here to do what I try to do everyday”

“And what’s that?”

“Helping someone… you, in this case” Ash concluded

The two boys went silent for a few second, until Gou decided to talk

“I don’t need help; I don’t need anything, actually”

“That’s not true! You need your parents!”

Gou huffed, only one sentence from that strange teenager and his whole argument crumbled.

“You need your dream too! Catching Mew is a very important dream!”

“I’ve never told that to anyone except my family!” Gou protested

“You told me”

“If you are from the future, can you tell me if I catch it? Will Mew be my first Pokemon”

Ash denied with his head

“It will not”

“Mew… won’t accept me?”

The little boy started to cry again, and Ash hugged him once more

“Your first Pokemon won’t be as powerful as Mew” he explained “But it will be more faithful, more loyal, and even cuter than Mew!”

“Really?”

“Of course! And then you have to count the others”

“Others?”

“Lots and lots of Pokemon and Human friends” Ash said with a smile “They will be by your side in every step of the road, all the time”

“You promise?”

“It’s a Time Traveler’s promise” Ash confirmed, and Gou hugged him

“I like your coat” Gou said, switching the topic

“It belongs to Sakuragi. A person that you should definitely meet, he’s going to open the doors”

“The doors to what?”

“To the future”

A moment after Ash said that, Rotom started to shout, pointing at a corner of the room.

“What’s going on?” Ash asked

“Roto! Roto!”

The room filled with a bright light, and the trainer instinctively stepped in front of Gou, shielding him. Once the light started to dim, Celebi appeared in front of the boys.

“Briii!” the creature exclaimed, twirling around

Gou walked to it, trying to touch it, but Celebi floated back and attacked him with a Confusion beam, the direct hit affected the little boy so much that he shook in place, falling back. Ash quickly caught him and threw a menacingly look at Celebi.

“Be gentile with him. He’s important”

The little Pokemon looked down, ashamed. Ash took a look at Gou, he was asleep, but fine

“Are you here to take me back to the future?”

Celebi nodded

“So… That’s it? This is what I was supposed to do?”

“Briii!” Celebi said, pointing at Gou

“I see. Without his parents around, he needed company… And some hope too, I guess”

The trainer turned off the screens and the lights of the room, then cradled the little boy’s body slowly and placed him in his chair. He kissed his forehead and whispered:

“See you in a few years, Gou”

Celebi floated towards Ash and Rotom, after a few seconds, the three of them disappeared

Gou opened his eyes slowly and saw his parent’s concerned faces

“Is everything okay, sweetie?” Kurune asked with concern

Gou blinked, trying to figure out what happened

“I was with… with…” the boy doubted for a second, and his father interrupted him

“With a man that needed our help” Ikuo completed “It sounded important, that’s why we came as soon as we could”

“Oh… I thought you didn’t believe me”

“Why we wouldn’t?” his mother asked, and Gou had no answer for that

Gou got up from his chair and exited the room

“Maybe he came back to the kitch…”

He ended up hitting a man by accident, and the visitor knelled down

“Sorry for that” the man commented “Your parents and I still need to finish some adjustments, so I came with them”

“It’s okay…” Gou didn’t knew who the man was, so he presented himself

“I’m Sakuragi”

“The Time Traveler!” Gou snapped

“What?” the soon-to-be Professor asked

“The Time Traveler was looking for you!”

“Which Time Traveler?” his mother asked from behind him “Gou, honey, I think you’ve been watching too many science fiction movies”

“But I… I…”

The little boy considered his options, he had no evidence to back up his claims, and so he assumed his mother was right

It had to be a dream, right?

Gou was sure he had been kneeling in the ground for at least 10 minutes now, absolutely shocked by the fact that his boyfriend disappeared in front of him. Cinderace was sitting in his lap, trying to comfort him but at the same time, seemingly waiting for something to happen. Pikachu has been sniffing the ground frantically since the moment his trainer was gone, but without running to any direction.

“He’s not coming back…” Gou commented with sadness

“You sure of that?” A voice said, and the teenager Gou loved so much appeared in front of him, unharmed

Pikachu jumped to Ash’s shoulder, licking his face, and Cinderace simply patted his knee, happy to see him again. As for Gou, he got up and ran to his boyfriend, hugging him as tightly as he could, ignoring for a moment the clothes he was wearing.

“You’re… gonna… choke me” Ash complained with a smile

“I’m not letting you go. Celebi is not gonna take you away from me, never again, and if he ever tries to, then you better…”

“Don’t worry” Ash interrupted “I’ll tell that pixie to take both of us or I won’t go with it”

“You promise?”

“It’s a Time Traveler’s promise”

In that moment, something clicked in Gou’s mind. A distant memory, a memory he was sure was just a dream. He looked at Ash; he heard his voice, that contagious optimism, that smile, never leaving his features, and the clothes, those clothes, strangely similar to the ones that certain Professor wore regularly…

Gou kissed Ash as strong as he could, making him lose balance and falling on top of him, that didn’t stop the kiss, and Gou advanced again, hugging Ash back, and, after a few seconds, letting go of him and putting his head on his shoulder

“Thank you” the boy whispered

“What for?” his boyfriend asked

“For giving me hope” Gou concluded

“I love you, Gou”

“I love you, My Time Traveler…”

**Author's Note:**

> Well, that was fun!  
> Any comments or suggestions? Leave them here, and I'll see you next time!


End file.
